Characteristics:
* Family includes 8 subfamilies and all species of meadow, cone-headed,
and shield-backed grasshoppers, and katydids.
* Grasshoppers large, greenish to brownish, with 4-segmentedtarsi.
* Wings smaller than short-horned grasshoppers, but antennae extend
at least the entire body length.
* Body length: 1-2".

Natural History:
* Habitat: Fields, meadows.
* Range: Throughout the United States and Canada.
* Voice: At night, katydids sing a song that sounds like katy-did, katy-didn't.
Male grasshoppers are noted for their chirping songs, produced when two
body parts are rubbed against each other.
* Behavior: Feed on green vegetation. Eggs laid on leaves.
* Native.

Connections!
* Americans usually do not view grasshoppers as an acceptable food source.
However, they provide much more protein and calories than beef, and
are very economical to harvest. Grasshoppers contains 1,365 calories
per pound, while beef contains only 1,240. In ancient Greece, grasshoppers
were sold at markets to be ground into flour or served whole, as tasty
appetizers.

* Medicinally, grasshoppers have been used to treat ear and
throat disorders.

* In Indo-Malaysian and Moslem traditions, grasshoppers were
symbols of nobility; those who wished to indicate noble descent
and local prestige wore golden grasshoppers in their hair.